Wireless digital networks, such as networks operating under the current Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, are spreading in their popularity and availability. With such popularity, however, come problems of reliable broadcast of layer-2 and/or layer-3 traffic. Broadcast traffic in computer networking generally refers to traffic that is simultaneously addressed to all devices connected to a specific network as opposed to unicast or multicast traffic.
Specifically, in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) networking, e.g., layer-3 in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model, the highest possible address in the IP network range is reserved as the broadcast address. For example, in the network 192.168.0.0/24, the broadcast address may be reserved as 192.168.0.255. In Media Access Control (MAC) addressing, e.g., layer-2 on the OSI model, the broadcast address may be reserved as the MAC address FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF (also known as the “all F” address). Packets in layer-3 traffic or frames in layer 2 traffic that are sent to the broadcast address will be sent to all nodes within their corresponding layer-3 or layer-2 broadcast domain.
Conventionally, connectivity in layer-2 is assumed when such broadcast traffic are sent to their corresponding layer-3 or layer-2 broadcast domains. However, in reality, the underlying layer-2 network links may not always be available, for example, due to large network traffic. Therefore, layer-3 broadcast traffics may not be successfully delivered when, for example, the underlying layer-2 connectivity is broken.
To solve this issue, network administrators have to configure the network with certain settings, which often force network topology upon client devices in the network. As an example, a network administrator may configure a printer and all computer desktops that use that printer to be located within the same layer-2 broadcast domain. The issue, however, becomes more complicated when the client devices include mobile devices that have roaming capabilities. When a client device moves from one physical location to another physical location that belongs to a different layer-2 broadcast domain, the client device will need to be specially configured by the network administrator to be maintained on the same layer-2 broadcast domain in order to provide for uninterrupted network services, e.g., access to printing services. Moreover, such special configuration typically require manual configuration by the network administrator. Thus, it is difficult to adapt to dynamic network topology changes.
Moreover, many applications and/or services use discovery mechanisms that are unable to discover services or devices outside physical layer-2 boundaries. Accordingly, conventional solutions typically require network topology modifications or constraints in order for such applications and/or services to function properly.